106 SAPINDACE.ii:. JEsculus. 



Cardiospermum is represented in Lower Californin by a single species (C. toi-luosum, Benth. 

 Bot. Sulph. 9, t. 6), and in cultivation by the Balloon Vine (C. Hulicacabum, Linn.), which is 

 native iVoni Texas tliroudi Tropical America. The .species are climbers, with bituniatc leaves, 

 and bladdery inllated 3-lobcd and 3-celled capsules. 



1. 2jSCu1us. Leaves opposite, palmately 5-9-foliolate. Calyx tubular. Petals 4 or 5, with 



claws. Ovules (5, a pair in eacli cell of the ovary, only one or two maturing into the large 

 chestnut-like seed. 



Suborder II. ACERINEiE. 



Flowers polygamous or dioecious, regular, often without petals. Ovary 2-lobed 

 and 2-celled ; the celb 2-ovuled but only 1 -seeded, each producing a wing and be- 

 coming a samara. Seed without albumen ; llu' embryo coiled or folded. Leaves 

 opposite, without stipules. 



2. Acer. Leaves palmately lobeil or rarely divided. Flowers polygamous. 

 '6. Negundo. Leaves pinnate. Flowers dioecious, apetalous. 



Suborder III. STAPHYLEACILE. 



Flowers perfect, regular, and symmetrical excei)t the pistil. Fruit capsular, 

 mostly several-seeded. Seeds with a bony coat, and a straight embryo with broad 

 flat cotyledons, in fleshy albumen. 



4. Staphylea. Erect and unguiculnte petals and stamens 5. Styles and lobes of the bladdery 



several-seeded capsule 3. Leaves opposite and compound, stipulate and stipellate. 



Anomalous Genus. 



5. QloSBopetalon. Lobes of the calyx and the slender spreading petals 5. Stamens 10. Pistil 



a single 2-ovuled carpel, in fruit a cartilaginous follicle : style hardly any. Leaves alter- 

 nate, simple and entire, with small adnate stipules. 



1. iESCULUS, Linn. Huksk-chestnut. Buckeye. 



Flowers polygamous. Calyx tubular, unequally 5-toothed. Petals 4 or 5, un- 

 equal, with claws. Stamens 5 to 8, exserted and often unequal. Ovary 3-celled : 

 ovules 2 in each cell, one or both abortive : style elongated. Fruit a large leathery 

 loculicidally 3-valved pod. Seed without albumen ; its coat thick and shining, 

 showing a large round scar. Cotyledons large and fleshy, somewhat coherent. — 

 Trees or shrubs ; leaves opposite, digitate, without stipules ; leaflets serrate, pin- 

 nately veined ; flowers showy, on jointed ])odicels, in a large terminal tliyrse or 

 panicle, mostly sterile. 



A genus of about 15 species, nearly half North American, two in the mountains of Central 

 America, the rest in Asia. Tiie Horse-chestnut, ^E. HippocasUnmm, Linn., originally from Asia, 

 is often seen in cultivation, and grows to be a large tree. The seeds are farinaceous but un- 

 palatable and unwholesome ; those of the Californian species are said to be eaten by the Indians. 



1. JB. Califomica, Nutt. Leaflets 4 to 7, usually 5, smooth, oblong-lanceo- 

 late, acute, obtuse at base, slenderly potiolulate, serrulate, 3 to 5 inches long : 

 flowers in a close finely pubescent thyrse which is 6 to 12 inches long : calyx 2- 

 lobed, the lobes scarcely toothed : petals slightly unequal, white or pale rose, half 

 an inch long or more : stamens 5 to 7 ; anthers orange-colored : ovary densely 

 pubescent: fruit unarmed, usually 1 -seeded : seed an incli in diameter. — Torr. & 

 Gray, Fl. i. 251 ; Nutt. Sylva, ii. 69, t. 64 ; Newberry, Pacif. E. Pep. vi. 20, fig. 

 1 ; Hook. Bot. :Mag. t. 5077. 



From San Luis Obispo to Mendocino Co. and Mt. Shasta, and in the foot-hills of the Sierra 

 Nevada, It is usually a shrub 10 to 15 feet high, but sometimes in the valleys, particularly 



